The Real Paleo Challenge: How a Fad on the Fringe Can Become a Force for

Change

Adele Hite, MPH RD MATPhD student

NC State University

Science ≠ Policy

Policy ≠ Science

Policy change

Cultural

change

Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs

1977 Dietary Goals: A cultural shift becomes policy

energy balance

meateggs

butter full-fat dairy

blood lipids

endocrinological and/or energy

balance

Neolithic foods

causes obesity

cause chronic disease

Low-fat, low-calorie Paleo

Nutrition: Stuck in a limited past

Public health message?

AVOID

“The sun revolves around the earth.”

“The earth revolves around the sun”

grains and cerealspeanuts and soy

any dairy

Meet the new boss.Same as the old boss.

Current nutrition

policies are barriers to

growth of local food systems.

Current nutrition policies discriminate

Ancestral Health Framework: It’s complicated

genetics

environment

EvolutionAnthropologyMicrobiome

Systems biologyEpigeneticsGenomics

From “fad” to “force for change”

1) Grow up2) Reach out3) Dig in

Fun with Venn Diagrams

Ancestral Health

Paleo

Reduced-carbohydrate

Vegetarian

Vegan Atkins

GROW UP: Body Size ≠ Health

GROW UP: Body Size ≠ Health

GROW UP: Food ≠ Nutrition

community

tradition

GROW UP: Food ≠ Nutrition

GROW UP: Food ≠ Medicine

GROW UP: Ditch the Nostalgia

GROW UP: Skip the Food Rules

GROW UP: Move Past Politics of Responsibility

GROW UP: Avoid Reliance on Limited Science

Known (possibly incorrect)

GROW UP: Avoid Reliance on Limited Science

Courtesy: Chris Masterjohn

Imaginable, but untestable

Unimaginable

Testable, but not yet

imagined

Under investigation

GROW UP: One Diet Will NOT Rule Them All

DIG IN: Voting with your fork is not enough

DIG IN: The Story We Enact

DIG IN: Feed the hungry protein food!

Farm to Family Initiatives

REACH OUT: Get Past Confirmation Bias

REACH OUT: Everyone is a future ally

REACH OUT: Health at Every Size

• Accepting and respecting the natural diversity of body sizes and shapes.

• Eating in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, satiety, and appetite.

• Finding the joy in moving one’s body and becoming more physically vital.

REACH OUT: Invest in Healthy Food Project

Make federal policy work for, not against, farmers who want to grow healthy food, specifically fruits and vegetables.

Make healthy locally-grown food more available and affordable to consumers.

Throw a better party . . .

Thank you for the inspiration:

Laura Schoenfeld @ Ancestralize Me!Beth Mazur @ Weight MavenMelissa McEwan @ Hunt Gather LoveRobert Patterson @ Michael Rose’s 55Chris Masterjohn @ The Daily LipidDoug Imig – The Urban Child InstituteAndrew Abrahams - Long Dream FarmMichael Ostrolenk – The Transpartisan Center